Got profiled in the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine today, with due diligence rendered up to his power and scope in Washington and his No Taxes Pledge.
It occured to me though, that if your goal was to keep the Federal Government's deficit very high indeed the best policy to pursue is to impose a pledge on conservative legistlators to never ever raise taxes under any circumstances.
If you are truly worried about spending (and I submit that much of the concern about the deficit is political and situational) then the last thing you want to do is tie the hands of your negotiator when it comes time to talk turkey over the budget.
You may think these pledges are preventing tax increases, in fact they just demonstrate a lack of seriousness and an inability to manuever.
Who wants to negotiate with partners that are all "pledged out"?
Keep in mind, legistlators have no problem passing the deficit buck forward onto succeeding generations, they pass ever more diresome problems to our progeny every day. In fact it is rare for a legislature to eschew such measures...I can't think of one quite frankly.
So lets be honest, lacking any substantive bargaining with real pain on both sides the deficit is gonna be with us for a long time to come.
No, the pledge is nice sharp rhetorical weapon designed to hamstring authentic progress and perhaps bring such pleasing chaos on the Republic as can be blamed on the liberals.
Because sheer eliminationism, is never too far from the thoughts of Modern Movement Conservatism and that is what I think is at the core of the No New Taxes Pledge.
It is childish and a little crazy, but it is what Grover wants.
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